Read the passage.

excerpt from cry, the beloved country by alan paton

so they all talked of the sickness of the land, of the broken tribe and the broken house, of young men and young girls that went away and forgot their customs, and lived loose and idle lives. they talked of young criminal children, and older more dangerous criminals, of how white johannesburg was afraid of black crime. one of them went and got him a newspaper, the johannesburg mail, and showed him in bold, black letters, old couple robbed and beaten in lonely house. four natives arrested.

question 1
part a

which theme is revealed in this excerpt?

a. racism and inequality lead to suffering for those who are its victims.

b. reconciliation and forgiveness are powerful forces.

c. the loss of traditional values can be disastrous to a society.

d. only love and acceptance can overcome hatred and fear.

part b

which statement best explains how the theme identified in part a develops over the course of the text?

a. despite the fact that absalom killed arthur jarvis, kumalo and james jarvis find a way to develop an unlikely friendship.

b. kumalo and absalom eventually overcome their differences and their shared sense of shame in order to make peace with one another before absalom’s death.

c. absalom leaves his village only to be corrupted by the amoral and divided city, which leads him into a life of crime that costs him and another man their lives.

d. gertrude is unable to find honest work in johannesburg, and because of her race, must live in the awful conditions of a shantytown.